


summer smiles

by rookmyfanwy



Category: Orphan Black
Genre: Alternate Universe, F/F, First Meetings, Fluff
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-08-06
Updated: 2014-08-06
Packaged: 2018-02-11 23:34:49
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,087
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2087274
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/rookmyfanwy/pseuds/rookmyfanwy
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Fireworks and Cosima don't mix. It's just bad science.</p><p>[the AU where Cosima ends up in Delphine's ER]</p>
            </blockquote>





	summer smiles

**Author's Note:**

> Special thanks to [glynnbearboo](http://archiveofourown.org/users/glynnbearboo/pseuds/glynnbearboo) (tumblr user hellacophine) for beta reading.

Doctor Delphine Cormier hates the Fourth of July.

When she first moved to the United States five years ago to complete her fellowship, she'd been overwhelmed by the pomp and circumstance of the holiday. The significance was explained to her over and over- the Star-Spangled Banner had been practically engraved on some poor neuron- but she hadn't understood the fervor with which Americans celebrated. The whole day was a celebration with endless alcohol, greasy food, and horrible music. And at the end of the night, colorful explosions lighted the gleeful faces surrounding her. Each boom was larger than the last, until Delphine was concerned that the whole venue would combust (whether from the enthusiasm or the fireworks she wasn't sure).

In short: it was disturbing.

She'd tried to join in. After becoming a citizen, she'd gone all out. She wore the red, white, and blue, ate the barbecued... something, and waved her miniature flag at the flashing sky. It was fun, sure, but felt hollow. She'd come to the conclusion that the American brand of patriotism was genetic.

Which is why she finds herself working the ER rotation on Independence Day. It simply isn't as important to her as the other employees. Not that she isn't proud to be an American citizen, she just can't force herself to be a poor facsimile of a die hard patriot.

Or blow up that much stuff.

Of course, the downside is that she has to deal with an influx of patients. Burn patients. Drunk burn patients. Enthusiasm is no substitute for safety, after all.

"Hey, Delphine. New patient, bed four," a nurse says crisply, handing her a folder. "You'll never guess what the injury is."

"Broken leg?" Delphine asks hopefully.

The nurse chuckles. "I wish. Burn on the left wrist. Second degree."

"Bien sûr," she mutters reluctantly.

"Have fun!" the shorter woman chirps, walking off to attend to other patients.

Delphine sighs, snaking through the controlled chaos of the ER to bed four. She snaps back the curtain, glancing down at the folder in front of her.

"Good evening..." she begins, reading the basic information for a name and closing the curtain behind her. "Miss Niehaus."

Her eyebrows raise with her gaze. Generally, men are the ones posturing with dangerous fireworks. Like the English phrase, the bigger the better.

Instead, a petite woman sits on the hospital bed, cradling her injured- but recently treated- forearm. Her legs swing like a child's, causing her deadlocks to bounce. A small grin graces her face.

All in all she seems very cheery for a woman in a hospital with a serious injury.

Delphine rattles off her standard introduction despite the curiosity raging inside her.

"My name is Dr. Cormier. I will be your attending physician tonight."

"Please, call me Cosima," the other woman says with a wide smile.

It's contagious, and Delphine finds herself returning it as she concedes, "Cosima, then."

The brunette's smile gets impossibly brighter. Delphine has to glance back down at the file, cheeks involuntarily flushing.

She clears her throat to continue. "So, it seems you've received a second degree burn."

"Total bummer," Cosima interjects.

"Yes," Delphine clutches the folder to her chest, curiosity getting the better of her. "If you don't mind me asking, what caused it?"

The dreadlocked woman laughs uncomfortably.  

"I may have been trying to, ah, win a bet," A finger presses against the side of her glasses. "And totally made a fool of myself in the process."

"I see." _I guess it is not so different from normal after all._ Delphine thinks.

"Yeah, turns out chemistry isn't as weak of a science as I thought," Cosima explains with a shrug.

_Wait, what?_

Delphine furrows her brow at the seeming non-sequitur.

The brunette catches on to her confusion. She hastily explains, "The bet was a challenge of sciences. This chemistry grad student claimed that his subject was, like, the essence of the universe or whatever. So, we decided to settle it Fourth of July style."

She pauses, her lower lip stretching down as she thinks. Her uninjured hand flutters around as she continues, "It was kinda like a battle, I guess. But with more fireworks!"

"That's..." _The oddest thing I have ever heard._

"Weird, right?" Cosima asks, curling up in embarrassment.

"Maybe. But also unique," Delphine reassures her. "Even though I would have appreciated you being safer, as a biologist I am proud you tried to show those chemistry... ehhh... jerks? How it's done."

There's that smile again, lighting up the whole room. Delphine feels another blush creep up her neck, so she busies herself with getting the bandages ready.

 _Merde. You are a doctor, not a silly schoolgirl! Act like one!_ Delphine mentally berates herself.

She clears her throat. "Are you in any pain, Cosima?"

"Nah, the drugs kicked in about halfway through our conversation," she replies genially. Upon closer inspection, the doctor sees Cosima's pupils are blown wide. Despite that, they watch her every move with rapt fascination. "Some pretty good stuff."

"Good. Good," Delphine echoes awkwardly, lamenting the loss of her bedside manner in the face of this unusual patient. "Arm please."

Cosima sticks her arm out, the burn a shiny red and recently slathered with ointment. It looks exceedingly painful. Delphine takes extra care to wrap it, feeling sympathetic twinges in her own arm.

When she finishes, she has an insane urge to press a kiss to the limb.

Shaking her head to clear it, she powers through, explaining to her captive audience how to care for the wound. Even when she's forbidding her from fireworks for the rest of the month, the attention Cosima gives Delphine is intense. She smiles every time they make eye contact.

"Wait, wait wait," Cosima says, waggling a hand in front of her to stop Delphine's barrage of information. "Sorry. The drugs are making me a bit slow. You said you were a biologist?"

"Yes, I have a PhD in immunology," Delphine explains.

"Whoa. You're French, a doctor, a doctor-doctor, and crazy smart?" Cosima asks, eyes wide.

Delphine chuckles at the brunette's drug induced amazement. “A doctor-doctor?”

“Ya know, stethoscopes and stuff!” Cosima exclaims excitedly. Her eyes are little more glazed than they were a few minutes ago. "I'm in the graduate program at UMinn. Evo Devo! We're basically biology buddies!"  

Delphine stares blankly at the woman for a second. "Oh, evolutionary development!"

"Mhmm. Sexy right?" Cosima murmurs. The doctor can't tell if she's being sarcastic or not, so she settles with a noncommittal hum. Cosima chooses that moment to stretch, forcing Delphine to notice the play of muscles in Cosima's arms. Her mouth goes dry.

_She is a patient, Delphine!_

The bespectacled scientist is oblivious of her inner struggle. "I'd love to read your thesis! If that's okay, of course."

"Um sure," Delphine says, shifting her eyes from Cosima's arms to her chest before hurriedly returning to the folder. A tiny part of her brain screams at herself to pull it together.

"Awesome!" Cosima chirps. Delphine glances at her patient, gut sinking when she sees her grin has been replaced by a knowing smile.

 _Merde_.

"We could maybe... read it together? You could go over mine and help me work out the kinks?" she continues in a lower voice. Delphine feels the words smolder in her gut, and she chuckles nervously.  

"She me yours and I'll show you mine," Cosima sums up with a wink.

 _Merdemerdemerde_.

She needs to control the situation.

"Ah well, I have the rest of my shift to complete first, don't I?" she... flirts. Which is entirely the opposite of what she should be doing.

"That's okay. I can be patient," Cosima tosses back. She pauses for a moment, lips pursing. "Patient. _I'm_ a patient. A patient patient!"

Cosima dissolves into giggles at her own joke.

It's... adorable.

The joke breaks up the tension, allowing Delphine to take a nice deep breath.

"Well, Cosima, it looks like you are free to go. Provided you have transportation of course."

"Oh," Cosima says sadly, looking a little crestfallen.

"You do have someone to drive you, yes?" Delphine prods.

"No, uh, yeah! My friend Scott came with, but he has this thing about needles going inside people," she lifts her uninjured arm, pointing at a band aid covering what is presumably an injection site. "It's actually kinda funny, because he uses needles pretty much everyday with samples. But as soon as one even touches..."

Delphine lets the cheery woman's rambling wash over her, a small smile in place. Cosima is vibrant.

Cosima stops mid sentence- somehow on the subject of her favorite microscope- her hands freezing in mid air. The doctor raises an eyebrow, following her gaze. A young man stands behind her, looking unnaturally pale, even in the clinical lights.

"Hey, Scott," Cosima says glumly, hands dropping to the bed beside her.

"Cosima," he greets tightly, swallowing. "You doing ok?"

"Stellar."

"No IV?"

"Yeah, but it's out now."

"Oh, thank god," he sighs, getting a little closer. He acknowledges Delphine with a timid hello.

"Hi, Scott," she replies, eyes narrowing. _Is he going to pass out?_

"Um, just thought you should know that Sully said he'd pay for everything. Since he, you know, he told you that Roman candle was inert and then," he mimes an explosion.

 "Only fair," Delphine interjects at the same time as Cosima.

"Jinx," Cosima calls, pointing a finger. They glance at each other, laughing. Scott gives a single chuckle before returning to his wan expression.

"I think you may need to get your friend out of here. He looks like he's going to throw up," Delphine stage whispers.

Much to the blonde's confusion, Cosima tsks. "Doctor Cormier! You broke the jinx prematurely. Know what that means?"

"No. No I don't."

"You owe me a drink!" She exclaims.

"What? This is not a rule," Delphie protests.

"Yeah it is," Cosima challenges.

"No, I do not think so."

"It actually is," Scott pipes up. "You're supposed to wait until she says your name before you speak."

"She said my name!"

" _After_ you spoke!" Cosima exclaims.

Delphine gapes at the two of them, before turning to Cosima. "You brat!" she says, accepting defeat.

The actual five year old only laughs in response, getting to her feet.

"Scott, I'm ready to go. Can you give me a sec?" she asks.

"Sure."

He doesn't move.

"Scott. Alone."

"Right."

"Bye, Scott," Delphine calls to his back as he turns.

He walks around the corner a bit unsteadily, leaving the two alone.

"Will he be okay to drive you home?"

"Who, him?" Cosima asks, waving a hand in his direction. "Yeah, he'll be fine. Like I said, needles, man."

"In people. Yes, I remember."

The two lapse into silence for a second, Cosima shuffling in place.

"About that drink..." she starts, touching her glasses.

"The one I supposedly owe you?" Delphine asks incredulously.

"There's nothing 'supposedly' about it. Rules are rules, Doctor Cormier."

"Ridiculous," she scoffs.

"That’s life. Anyway. There's this great place on Fifth Street you should take me to. Great wine, great service," she states brazenly.

Delphine admires her courage.

"Okay," she accepts. "One day. When I'm not busy treating cheeky ER patients that play made up games.

She shuffles around for a notepad and pen, scribbling her name and number. Handing it over, the two share another smile. The doctor's cheeks have started to ache sweetly with happiness.

The brunette glances down at the paper.

"Delphine. Means dolphin. Kickass!" she exclaims. After a moment, red colors her cheeks. “Oh god. That’s the drugs talking, I swear. No filter right now. I don’t normally comment on people’s names and their meanings.”

Delphine chuckles. "It’s okay. I'm glad you think it’s cool."

Cosima just smiles, moving past her into the hall.

"See ya around, Delphine!" she says with a tiny wave.

"Au revoir, Cosima."

The brunette walks around the corner and Delphine follows at a distance, heading back to the nurse's station.

She pauses right before the turn, hearing a familiar voice.

"Dude! That doctor was pretty," she hears Scott say.

"She was wasn't she," Cosima agrees. "Really smart too."

They laugh, walking out of Delphine's hearing range.

She stands at the corner a few seconds longer, cheeks nearly splitting with her grin, an entirely different kind of firework going off in her chest.

Ignoring the nurses' curious stares, she practically floats to the station, spending the rest of the night in a gloriously good mood.

Maybe the Fourth isn't so bad after all.


End file.
